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Every business owner and employee accepts that there is some inherent risk to their jobs. Those who work around heavy machinery accept the dangers the equipment can pose if proper precautions aren’t taken. Even those who sit behind a desk all day understand the risk of chronic back pain, migraines, and the effects of a sedentary lifestyle.
However, your business risk assessment plays a large factor in how well your company is prepared to avoid risks and respond to accidents, should they occur.
Take a moment to read through our quick guide on risk assessment
Remember, every job out there poses some kind of risk to employees. Even if you work in a relatively low-risk environment, you also need to consider natural disasters and/or potential terrorist attacks. While the odds are incredibly low, they are still possibilities.
The point is, the more you make yourself aware of potential risks, the more likely you’ll be able to prevent them. It also puts you in a favorable position to respond appropriately in worst-case scenarios.
First, during a business risk assessment, you need to identify all possible risks your employees may be susceptible to. This includes everything as minor as the effects of poor posture from sitting behind a computer all day to possible life-threatening events, as improbable as they may be.
For example, delivery drivers are at risk for road accidents, construction workers are at risk for physical injuries, and factory workers may be at risk of hazardous chemical exposure.
Next, you need to identify who is at risk for these scenarios. Employees that have different duties don’t necessarily share the same risks.
Depending on their specific job requirements, some employees may need to receive special training and/or instructions to limit risk probability.
You also need to have disaster training for the entire staff in the event of an active shooter, bomb threat, or natural disaster.
A business risk assessment also includes a statistical analysis of how likely an accident is to happen. You need to assess the level of risk each employee faces for each individual possibility.
As mentioned, some jobs are inherently high-risk. However, if you can change how things are done to lower the likelihood of accidents, it’s your obligation as an owner or manager to do so.
This leads to our next step – determining the appropriate steps necessary to minimize risk in the workplace.
This could include extra safety precautions while working around heavy machinery, investing in better protective gear for your staff, or enforcing a 10-minute break to stand and stretch every hour for staff that stares at computers all day.
Finally, any good business risk assessment plan isn’t complete without a response strategy. You and your employees need to know what to do in case of an accident, injuries, or disaster scenarios. A key element of this is having a quality disaster recovery company on hand to help you out.
Run drills and make sure the appropriate response measures are ingrained in peoples minds so they can react off of instinct during worst-case scenarios.
Our last bit of advice for business risk assessment is to take it incredibly seriously. Don’t put it off or employ half-cocked methods. Your staff deserves to work in a place with competent risk assessment and prevention techniques.
For more help and advice, contact us. We would love to help you and your company out! Keep in mind, we also own all of the disaster recovery equipment we use, which means you won’t be stuck waiting in line should you ever need our services!
